Angola Peace Monitor
Published by ACTSA 

Issue no.5, Vol.XIV
March 2008

 
Samakuva warns of election problems
Since becoming President of UNITA in 2003 Isaias Samakuva has sought to transform UNITA from a guerrilla movement into a solely political party. UNITA once had widespread backing in western nations including from apartheid South Africa, but its founder leader Jonas Savimbi's refusal to accept the results of the 1992 elections and flouting of international law ended in international sanctions and pariah status. Savimbi was killed in 2002. Isaias Samakuva has been carefully rebuilding its international image and his calm style contrasts starkly with Savimbi's bellicose sabre-rattling.

In a wide-ranging interview with the Angola Peace Monitor, Samakuva warned that much remains to be done for this year's parliamentary elections to be a success, but pledged that should UNITA win elections the economy "will continue to flourish".

Isaias Samakuva revealed that he has been in contact with the leader of the FLEC faction that is continuing its guerrilla struggle for independence for the Cabindan province. He stated that "Nzita Tiago, the leader of FLEC, has approached me to find an inclusive, real peaceful solution for Cabinda", and that he has offered his help to Angola's president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Samakuva had several complaints about the manner in which the voter registration process has been carried out in preparation for this September's parliamentary elections. He pointed out that the CIPE, which is the government body in charge of voter registration, has not yet published the names of the voters – contrary to the law. He also argued that 72,000 registered voters have not yet received their voter ID cards.

The independent body in charge of the elections, the National Electoral Commission, CNE, has received the voter rolls from the CIPE. But according to Samakuva the "CNE is unable to certify these because voter rolls are in a non-verifiable, PDF format. The CNE cannot perform random tests to assert conformity with the Law. It needs to have full access to the data base and perform its duty before the new registration starts in April. Voter rolls need to be published and certified in a timely, professional and transparent fashion".

Samakuva raised doubts as to whether the remaining tasks can be completed properly before September. He accepted that much had been done, with tenders out for purchasing the election material and setting up the 13,000 election stations. But he pointed out that the recruitment, selection and training of over 300,000 electoral agents who will operate the voting stations has not yet started.

The UNITA president also raised questions about the independence of the CNE, and complained that "the Law obliges the CNE to invite political parties to attend their meetings, which shall be public: we are still waiting for such an invitation".

On the question of whether President dos Santos was right to stagger parliamentary and presidential elections, Samakuva argued that delaying the presidential elections will mean that "the institution President da Republica will continue to 'illegitimate' for one more year". The effect is that this "non-elected institution" will head the Council of Ministers (the Angolan Cabinet) after the parliamentary elections.

Although UNITA is by far the largest opposition party, it is seeking an electoral union to avoid splitting the vote. Samakuva argued that "the Angolan people are tired of 30 years of social exclusion, bad management and corruption. In every corner of the country people call out for change. As a leading party, UNITA's role is to find convergence and synergies to avoid the dispersion of the vote for change. The form that these convergences will take may include pre-electoral or post-electoral alliances, agreements on common policies or the integration of small parties into a bigger party. These discussions are underway".

Samakuva was optimistic that UNITA will do well in the elections, pointing out that recent independent opinion polls indicate that "UNITA will be favoured by the massive dissatisfaction of the Angolan people with current government policies and the lack of a leadership sensitive to the peoples needs and aspirations".

In the past UNITA has been portrayed as a right-wing political movement with close ties to the Heritage Foundation in the United States. It also received support from a diverse range of countries such as apartheid South Africa, the Peoples Republic of China and Romania. But under Samakuva it has been moving to seize the political centre, with him characterising the party as a social democratic party. He argued that "under a UNITA government the Angolan economy will continue to flourish, but economic growth will not only be measured by business statistics but will also be evident in the well being of the Angolan people. While investments from all countries will continue to be welcome, the social path followed by European Nordic countries will be the right model for development".

Despite this significant shift to the centre, UNITA continues to maintain its links with the centre-right parties, being a member of the Centrist Democrat International and the Union of African Political Parties for Democracy and Development. This puts UNITA alongside mainstream parties such as German president Angela Merkel's CDU and French president Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP. But it also allies it with Gatsha Mangosuthu Buthelezi's Inkatha Freedom Party and Afonso Dhlakama's Renamo in Mozambique.

Samakuva pointed out that the elections would herald the end of the Government of National Unity and Reconciliation, which was set up in April 1997 to form a multi-party government. However, despite UNITA serving in this government over the last eleven years, Samakuva argued that it acted as “the government of MPLA”. He lamented that "social and economic policies are dictated, not discussed nor agreed upon. Business opportunities, access to State funds, and privatisations are made secretly for the benefit of a handful of families, all of them connected to MPLA. The main investments were selected to benefit the MPLA social base. UNITA shares a formal presence in GURN, but does not share real power".

Note: The Angola Peace Monitor plans to feature a series of interviews with leading players in Angola's political scene in the run up to this September's parliamentary elections.

Electoral Commission meets to draw up strategic plan
The National Electoral Commission, CNE, met in Luanda in mid February to draw up its strategic plan for this September's parliamentary elections.

One of the key priorities of the meeting was to draw up a budget for buying the necessary electoral material, which includes the ballot papers and ballot boxes. The CNE has been working on putting together a specifications book that will form the basis for the tender for voting material.

The CNE has also been discussing setting up the electoral civic education campaign to inform voters how and where to vote. The provincial electoral commissions will now discuss civic education.

One thing that the CNE will not be finalising is the exact number of polling booths and their positions. It will only be working on indicative numbers. This is because the registration process has not been finalised, with a further period in April and May available for people who have newly turned 18 to add their names to the register, along with anyone else who has not managed to get onto the register.

Disarming Civilians
The Minister of the Interior, Roberto Leal Monteiro "Ngongo", has confirmed that the Ministry of the Interior will soon launch a campaign to educate society about the need to disarm civilians.

According to the Angolan news agency Ngongo made this announcement on 28 February at a ceremony marking the 32nd anniversary of the National Police.

After the educational campaign there will be a phase in which civilians can hand over illegally held weapons on a voluntary basis. However, after that phase the Angolan police will take steps to enforce the law that prohibits the holding of unlicensed weapons.

In 1992, when Jonas Savimbi led UNITA back to war, having rejected the results of the elections, the Angolan government distributed hundreds of thousands of AK47 assault rifles to civilians to fight off a coup attempt in the capital, Luanda and several other cities. During this time atrocities took place as some people took the opportunity to settle old scores or attack others for xenophobic reasons.

Although there have been several attempts to recover these weapons, there are still a huge number of illegally held weapons. Last month Minister Ngongo announced that in 2007 8,479 firearms were collected.

Agricultural inputs for ex soldiers
The programme to reintegrate former UNITA soldiers took another step in February when the Institute of Socio-Professional Reintegration for Ex-combatants (IRSEM) donated agricultural inputs valued at $500,000 to a project in Huila province.

The inputs will help 800 former UNITA soldiers in the districts of Lubango, Chibia and Humpata, and includes ploughs, cattle and seeds.

The reintegration programme is intended to help 138,000 former soldiers, including 105,000 former UNITA soldiers and 33,000 former government soldiers. As of May 2007 there were 97,390 demobilised former UNITA soldiers, of whom 72,165 were receiving reintegration support through 121 projects.

It is now over six years since the end of the war and the demobilisation of UNITA soldiers. According to a study published last year by the Institute for Security Studies – From Soldiers to Citizens, based on a survey of former UNITA combatants concluded in 2005, although the majority (77 per cent) considered themselves to be reintegrated into civilian life, almost half of them still considered themselves to be "demobilised" rather than civilians. Only half of the former soldiers had received their demobilisation subsidy and 60 per cent had received their demobilisation kit.

However, an independent evaluation team working for the funders of the Angola Demobilization and Reintegration Program found that the program "is achieving its goals, especially in relation to the social and economic reintegration" and "in general, ex-combatants and community members acknowledge the progress made in their own economic and social reintegration and a significant number of beneficiaries say they achieved better social and economic conditions than the rest of their community".

Parliament rejects suspension of Jorge Valentim
On 26 February the Angolan parliament, the National Assembly, rejected a request by the Supreme Court for the suspension of Jorge Valentim. Such a suspension would allow the court to call him to answer charges of false accusation and illegal imprisonment of a journalist.

The case dates back to 2003 when Valentim was Minister for Tourism, when Jorge Artur Tunda Catende, a journalist with the private paper Folha 8, was arrested after attempting to interview Valentim. The journalist was arrested, accused of stealing $400 from Valentim – even though he had no money in his possession – and held for 34 days before being released without charge.

The National Assembly refused to suspend Valentim on the grounds that the Supreme Court did not give a date for the trial.

Valentim was one of the founders of UNITA, but broke ranks in 1998 when it became clear that Jonas Savimbi would not allow a peaceful settlement to Angola's conflict.

Despite this break, Valentim remains a UNITA parliamentarian. All efforts by the main block of UNITA parliamentarians to remove him have failed, and in March 2006 UNITA expelled him from its ranks.

Rwanda relations
The relationship between Angola and Rwanda strengthened in February with the visit to Rwanda of Angola's Foreign Minister Joao Bernardo De Miranda. Relations between the two countries were severely affected by the two countries being on opposite sides during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This led to accusations that Rwanda was supporting the rebel movement of UNITA prior to the death of its leader, Jonas Savimbi, in battle in February 2002.

The visit of Joao Miranda to Rwanda follows the meeting held between the two countries Presidents during the summit in Lisbon of the African Union and the European Union in December 2007.

The Angolan army was part of the multi-national force that, along with Rwanda and Uganda, helped Laurent Kabila to power in 1997 after the former president, Mobutu Sese Seko, fled the country. Angola objected to the Congo being used as a rear base for UNITA, whilst Rwanda acted against Hutu extremists who had fled to the Congo after President Paul Kegame came to power.

According to Rwanda's Foreign Affairs Minister, Charles Murigande, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos will visit Rwanda on an official trip later this year.

PRD re-elects leader
The Democratic Renewal Party on 17 February re-elected Luis dos Passos da Silva Cardoso as president. The decision took place at its third Congress that was held in Luanda.

The party elected Manuel Joaquim Noy da Costa to the position of Secretary General.

In Angola's last presidential elections, held in 1992, Luis Dos Passos received 1.47 per cent of the vote, putting him in sixth place.

Advocacy groups call for investigation into missing millions
Action Place Financière Suisse, Berne Declaration and Global Witness on 12 February called for the Public Prosecutor and the Investigating Judge of Geneva to take action against the alleged misappropriation of $600 million of Angola oil revenues originally destined to repay debt to Russia.

The three organisations state that from 1997 to 2001 $774 million of Angolan oil revenues were paid into an account at UBS Geneva belonging to Abalone Investment Limited, a shell company run by businessman Pierre Falcone and his associate Arcadi Gaydamak. These funds were intended to repay Angola’s bilateral debt with Russia.

The groups claim that only $161 million was transferred from Abalone to the Russian Ministry of Finance. In a press release the campaigners repeat allegations from the French satirical magazine Le Canard Enchaine that the missing funds ended up in the private accounts of high-ranking Angolan officials.

However, despite a two-year investigation in Switzerland, the Swiss prosecutors dropped the case in December 2004.

Falcone has strenuously denied any wrongdoing, arguing that "Russia received every cent of every dollar it was due to receive. The two sovereign governments signed an agreement so that, for their mutual benefit, they could renegotiate a debt that was affecting not only the economies of their countries but the economic relations that could be developed between them, and also facilitate Angola’s future access to financial markets, as a result of being less indebted".
 
MEND leader extradited to Nigeria
Henry Okah and Eduarto Atata were extradited from Angola on 14 February following a request from the Nigerian government.

Okah is a founding member of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta that has been responsible for attacks on the oil industry in the Niger Delta. He was arrested in Luanda in September 2007 and accused of carrying a shopping list of war materiel.

Okah is expected to appear in court on terrorism charges on 5 March.

President accredits British Ambassador
President dos Santos 25 February formally accredited Britain's Ambassador Pat Phillips, who took up her appointment in November 2007. Previously she had been Deputy Head of Mission in Amman.

Between 1998 and 2000 she was the Private Secretary to Peter Hain when he was Minister of State for Africa. During this time Peter Hain played an important role in getting international sanctions imposed on UNITA with increasing effectiveness. These sanctions weakened the military structures of UNITA that along with improvements in the Angolan army, led to the military defeat of UNITA.

The president also formally accredited Han Jae Young of South Korea, Afonso Sena Cardoso of Brazil, Ismael Obaid Al-ali of the United Arab Emirates and Chrissie Mughogho of Malawi.

TAAG hopes to regain flights
The national airline of Angola, TAAG, hopes that in April the European Commission will remove the ban on its flights into Europe.

TAAG was banned from flying into European airspace in July 2007 on safety and security grounds. Since then it has been working on developing systems to conform to European standards, with President dos Santos setting up an Inspection Commission for TAAG.